Now known as the brilliant creative force behind a number of award-winning TV series, Bochco got his start at Universal Pictures before joining MTM Enterprises, where he teamed with Michael Kozoll to co-create the now-iconic police drama Hill Street Blues. The NBC series ran from 1981 to 1987 and amassed a whopping 98 Emmy Award nominations over its 7 seasons. It took home 26. The series is considered by many to be one of the most influential TV series of all time.

After leaving Hill Street Blues, Bochco co-created the legal drama L.A. Law, which ran on NBC from 1986 to 1994. The series would go on to take home 15 Emmys of its own, including four for Outstanding Drama Series. Then in 1993, Bochco paired with Hill Street Blues writer David Milch to create the award-winning but also controversial drama NYPD Blue, which was the the longest-running one-hour drama in ABC history until it was surpassed by Grey's Anatomy. The series ran from 1993 until 2005. His most recent series, TNT's Murder in the First, ran for three seasons.

Of course, not all of Bochco's series were critical successes; he also created the infamous ABC series Cop Rock, which combined police drama with Broadway numbers. Some people might look back on it fondly and say it was ahead of its time. Some people might not.

Like the shows he created, Bochco would take home a number of awards over the years. He was nominated for more than 30 Emmys, winning 10. The Producers Guild of America presented him with the David Susskind lifetime achievement award in 1999, and he took home four Peabody Awards over the course of his career. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1996.

Born in New York City in 1943, Bochco attended NYU before eventually graduating from Carnegie Institute of Technology, now known as Carnegie Mellon, where he received a BFA in theater. He is survived by his third wife Dayna Kalins, as well as daughter Melissa and sons Jeffrey and Jesse.